For $300 million Pak tells lies on Haqqani terror group

The US has stopped short of calling Pakistan a liar. Exposing Pakistani links with terror groups the US said the threat from terror groups, particularly Haqqani network, continues to emanate from Pakistan.

Pakistani national security advisor Sartaj Aziz's remarks that the dreaded Afghanistan-based outfit has been almost wiped out from the country is not acceptable to the US. Haqqani network is no longer present in Pakistan, and they have shifted to Afghanistan after the recent military operations in the area, Aziz had made assertions during a meeting with visiting German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

But the state department does not believe in this blatant lie. "We recognise that there's still threat from these terrorist groups emanating from Pakistan. We want to see Pakistan take additional steps to address some of these threats," state department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington on Monday.

"In terms of the Haqqani network and really the violence that we see from the Taliban and the Haqqani network, we really want to double down, on trying to stop these groups from carrying out other acts of terror," Toner said.

Earlier, the Pentagon echoed the State Department on the Haqqani network.

Toner was responding to a question about Aziz's statement that the infrastructure supporting Haqqani network in North Waziristan had been dismantled.

Why is Pakistan denying so vehemently? At stake is $300 million. Pakistan has been told by the US that the defence secretary would not be certifying to Congress that the North Waziristan military operation had downgraded the Haqqani network. This would block disbursement of about $300 million of the Coalition Support Fund.

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